Metal and wood working equipment such as power saws (e.g., miter saws, radial arm saws), planers, jointers, table routers, milling machines and the like have high speed tools that shape work-pieces in different ways. Such equipment requires bringing a work-piece into contact with the tool and either moving the work-piece or moving the tool so that the tool may work the workpiece. During operation of the equipment, it is often desirable to temporarily secure the work-piece to permit the tool to work the workpiece cleanly, as undesired movement of the work-piece may lead to unacceptable results and may also present a safety hazard. It is also often desirable to manipulate the work-piece on the equipment to make positional adjustments of the work-piece on the equipment. With metal and wood working equipment, securing and/or manipulating the work-piece is often done by hand by an operator. However, the safety of the operator may be jeopardized if a part of the operator's body (e.g., a hand or fingers) is brought into close proximity of the high speed tool.
It is therefore generally desirable for metal and wood working equipment, in particular power equipment, to provide the ability to temporarily secure a work-piece in position and manipulate the position of the work-piece while improving the safety of the operator. It is also desirable to be able to manipulate the work-piece “on-demand” by providing fine control over where and how the work-piece is secured.